Chris Sievey

Chris Sievey

Christopher Mark Sievey (25 August 1955 – 21 June 2010) was an English musician and comedian known for fronting the band The Freshies in the late 1970s and early 1980s and for his comic persona Frank Sidebottom from 1984 onwards.

Sievey, under the guise of Sidebottom, made regular appearances on North West television throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, even becoming a reporter for Granada Reports. More recently he had presented Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show in B/W for the Manchester-based television station Channel M. Throughout his career, Sidebottom made appearances on radio stations such as Manchester's Piccadilly Radio and on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 5, alongside Mark and Lard.

Sievey died on Monday, 21 June 2010 after a short battle with cancer. Soon afterwards it was reported that Sievey had died penniless and would have a pauper's funeral. A campaign, backed by former collaborators including Jon Ronson, was set up to raise funds for the funeral and eventually raised £21,631.55 from 1,632 separate donations.